Becoming Great

A week ago I committed to getting back into the habit of blogging at least once a week. I have listened to and read a lot of self help books in the hopes of understanding how great people do great things. As I listened to the Headway App summarizing countless books on greatness, the common denominator is forming a consistent practice which eventually becomes a consistent habit. I always thought if you ahd enough passion, it would get you through to executing on your goals, but after countless ‘passion’ projects I am fast realizing I am much better at starting than completing. Maybe that’s the Manifestor in me (but I will leave that to another day as Human Design is yet another passion of mine). 

I recently finished The One Thing Book by Jay Keller and Jay Papasan on the app and found it to be logical and useful. Their premise is based on the idea that there’s always something that matters more than others. It might change over time but at a particular time there’s only one thing that matters more than everything. When the one thing aligns with one’s priority and purpose, then life becomes really productive. The following are some pointers that really resonated with me:

1. Amazing results are directly dependent on how narrow you can make your focus. So while you have varying passions, drill down to the one thing that aligns with your lifestyle and values. In other words, if you wnat to make long term changes in your life, choose one thing and focus your energy on being great in that area.

2. Achieving success takes a lot of subtraction – deleting the things that do not matter in order to make room for the things that do is a discipline unto itself. This is counter-intuitive to a culture of multi-tasking.

3. A balanced life is a myth, it means staying safe in the center, however the big things happen at the extremes. An extraordinary life is a counterbalancing act therefore making your priorities very clear makes follow-through much easier. This is a big aha moment for me. I thrive on balance being a Libra rising! However I would agree looking back on my experiences, the times where I went through really personal lows or worked through big promotions at work or took big risks were the times where my life seemed to make pivotal changes. Staying safe, staying in the middle is ok though..it’s a time I use to regroup, refuel and re-strategize. And quite frankly, driving hard all the time is just not sustainable.

4. Write down your goals and detail them from someday to 10 years, to 5 years, to one month and to the present day is a good way to discover the most significant thing in your life at every moment and then simply work toward always getting it done. Use time blocking, a min of 4 hours a day for you to concentrate on the significant tasks at hand, this can include planning, restrategizing and executing.

I hope if you are reading this, you find it helpful in your own life! Until next week